Proverbs 16:16-17 How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver! 17 The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: he that keepeth His way preserveth his soul.

Do You Have The Right Treasure?

WISDOM – the ability to properly apply what you know – comes from God. We are told in …

Proverbs 2:6 For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

Illustrate: The LORD is the Great I AM, the God Who created everything that we see. We cannot stare directly at His sun in the morning sky, but we take its light for granted. Did you know that the Sun loses 4 million TONS of mass EVERY SECOND due to nuclear fission – the equivalent volume of our Mount Everest! Our Sun is not the only star – God made all the stars. Stars like our Sun burn for about 9-10 BILLION years, according to scientists. Our Sun is due to burn out in about 5 BILLION years.

That’s Who God is! That’s what His wisdom and knowledge accomplishes.

As the economy bounces up and down, I hear people saying “You’d better buy gold and silver, for the dollar may crash”. So people are rushing to buy gold and silver. But, as my friend Pastor Edward Dickson said, “Gold and silver will only be good if people will trade for it. If the economy falls, who’s going to want gold and silver? We all want:

Basic Physical Needs (Air, Water, Food, Shelter, Clothing)
Safety & Security
Love & Belonging
Self-Esteem
Self-Actualization (Growth into Purpose)

Gold and silver are earthly things, temporary, and fleeting. They can help meet some of the needs that all humans have. But they cannot meet our greater needs.

Mammon or Money can be stolen, taxed, removed. It can fail or let us down. The LORD wants us to be fully vested in what is BEST FOR US and BEST FOR THOSE AROUND US. This is why Jesus said:

Matthew 6:19-21 (NIV) Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

It is wisdom to choose desire for God over desire for the things of this world. The center of your life cannot be built on silver and gold, on temporary things. We place the crucifix in a prominent place in our Church, in the center, where your attention is drawn to it. We place the Word of God and the Communion Table, along with the pulpit, at the center of the room we call a sanctuary. We used to put the Churches at the center of our towns. Why?

PREACH! Psychologist Jordan Peterson said, “We used to understand that the proper foundation of the world is voluntary self sacrifice upward. If you understand that truth, your life becomes meaningful, even in its suffering, and you set things right around you.” Life has little meaning if you are living for the temporal, the fleeting. Life is a gift from God, and God gives us wisdom to live our lives best. Our desires are only fully filled when we fill them with the wisdom of God.

Proverbs 16:17
The highway of the upright is to depart from evil

A young lady asked a Pastor “How can I know that I am saved?

I often have bad thoughts, and sometimes allow myself to act on those thoughts?” A Christian is saved by Grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Once we are saved, we become the property of God, members of His Kingdom. The Bible shows this relationship in

Ephesians 2:8-10 (NKJV) For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

We are saved BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH NOT OF WORKS. We bring nothing to the table of salvation but our broken selves. Pastor Jonny Ardavanis said, “We bring nothing to the table salvifically other than the sin that made Jesus’ death necessary.” But once we are saved, we are His workmanship. We are created to do good works for God, to be obedient children.

As God is Sovereign, the Christian who is not just a professor, but a possessor of salvation WILL DO GODLY WORKS. How can you know that you are saved? By your desires. Do you desire to obey Him as Lord? Do you desire to know God? Do you desire to have Him know you? Do you desire to honor God, to please Him? Do you desire to obey His Word?

The HIGHWAY of the UPRIGHT is to DEPART FROM EVIL

The HIGHWAY of the UPRIGHT is to DEPART FROM EVIL. The word HIGHWAY is the Hebrew mecillah, which means “the best way to go or travel”. Jesus talked of two ways –

“WIDE is the gate, and BROAD is the way that leads to destruction {but} STRAIT (stenos, narrow) is the gate, and narrow the way that leads to life” (Matthew 7:13-14)

The best way to travel if you are the UPRIGHT or saved person is WITH GOD. A person’s life is not a single step, but a journey. Once saved, we journey with the One Who saved us. When we walk with the Lord, we preserve our souls from damage. “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV). If saved, we no longer walk according to our whims and dictates. We are followers of Christ, imitators of God. The Apostle said:

1 John 3:9 (ESV) No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning

he that keepeth HIS way PRESERVETH his soul.

Word Study & Illustrate: The word translated PRESERVETH is the Hebrew šāmar, which means “to guard, to keep watch over, to protect”. When I wood work using my table saw, I’m always very careful around the spinning blade. Though I do not work with a blade guard, I always use a push stick to handle material close to the blade. The blade is made to cut wood, but it really doesn’t care if it cuts flesh!

As a saw blade can cut flesh or wood, sin can cut and damage the soul. The Bible truly said “the wages of sin is DEATH” (Romans 6:23). Consider the stories of the Scripture. Can a saved person sin? Absolutely! Samson was a Judge, chosen by God to represent Him to the people. But Samson did not walk the way that God would have him walk. Samson was prideful, and filled with lust for women. Samson dishonored his parents. The Bible promises us that:

Proverbs 19:16 (ESV) Whoever keeps the commandment keeps his life; he who despises His {God’s} ways will die.

Samson brought death and misery on himself. Though he killed many Philistines as he died, he died tied to two pillars, his eyes burned from his head, and his body probably castrated. When you keep God’s Way and walk with the Lord, you “preserve your soul”. And what of King David? He stole another man’s wife, then took that man’s life. He thought he had covered his tracks until God sent Nathan to confront him. The Bible says:

Proverbs 10:9 (ESV) Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.

David’s sins came to haunt him when his Beloved Son Absalom tried to take his throne, and eventually was killed in battle. When you walk the highway of the upright with the King of Kings, you are always blessed. But when you depart the King’s Highway, you open the door to destruction of your soul.

Compare the lives of David and Samson to the lives of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

Though terribly tried in life, these four men lived their lives so as to please their God – even though they were in a foreign land. Consider the life of Paul the Apostle, who suffered horribly in order to share the Gospel of Christ. When the Apostle Paul stood bound before the Governor Felix, he said:

Acts 24:16 (ESV) … I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men.

He sought to please God first, to love those around him, and put himself last. This is the way to blessing!

Humble Yourselves To Be Blessed

Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

I am told in Clarkes Commentary that a notation in most Masoretic Hebrew Bible has a note is placed on verse 18:

chatsi hassepher: “the middle of the book.”

This verse is the middle verse of the Book of Proverbs. This is an anchor verse of Scripture.

When Adam desired to be as God, his pride brought destruction on all of humanity. The higher we seek to elevate ourselves, the farther we fall and the more damaging our landing. The Bridges Commentary notes:

“David gloried in the number of his people, and the Lord diminished them by pestilence. Hezekiah boasted of his treasure; and the Lord marked it to be taken away. At the moment that Nebuchadnezzar was proud of his Babel, he was banished from the enjoyment of it. “The vain daughters of Zion,” priding themselves on their ornaments, were covered with disgrace. (Isaiah 3:24.) Yet after all, the state of heart that prepares man for the fall, is the worst part of his condition. For what is our pride is our danger …”

Satan, the Arch Angel Who fell from pride, uses pride as a weapon against us all. Satan tried to trap our Lord Jesus with pride, saying:

Matthew 4:5-6 (NKJV) … IF You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”

“I don’t believe you are the Son of God! Prove it! Throw Yourself down!” Jesus wouldn’t play his evil game, but stayed on the King’s Highway, saying:

Matthew 4:7 (NKJV) … It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.

When it came time for Jesus to go to the Cross, Satan again reached out through the Apostle Peter. Peter told Jesus,

Matthew 16:22 (AP) Peter rebuked Jesus, saying, this will never happen to You, Lord! It cannot happen!

Jesus replied, “Get behind Me, Satan! You offend Me. You do not savor the things of God, but the things of this world, of mankind!” (Matthew 16:23, AP).

The Bible is filled with accounts of men and women who were lifted up with pride – and who died horrible deaths because of it. Jezebel was eaten by dogs (1 Kings 21:23-24; 2 Kings 9:30-37). The Pharaoh of Exodus destroyed under a wall of water, his firstborn child killed (Exodus 14:5-29). Haman hung on the gallows he prepared for Mordecai (Esther 7:10). King Nebuchadnezzar ate grass in the field like a dumb ox (Daniel 4:25-35). King Herod was consumed by skin worms (Acts 12:20-23). Ananaias and Sapphira died for lying to God (Acts 5:1-11).

Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an HAUGHTY spirit before a fall

Word Study: The word translated HAUGHTY is the Hebrew gobahh, which means “physical or spiritual HEIGHT”. We all have dignity and worth because we were created in the image of God – yet we are not gods. When Jesus Christ, the Beloved Son of God, walked among us, He walked in humility.

We are made in the IMAGE of GOD, but we are not gods.

The Bible says that Jesus literally: Philippians 2:7-8 (ESV) emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Jesus told us that the way to power with God was by humility. Just before He went to the Cross, Jesus gathered His disciples. The Bible tells us that:

John 13:3-17 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, 4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” 8 Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.” 12 When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. 16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them…

Jesus took on the action of a lowly servant in washing the feet of His disciples. Throughout Jesus’ life on this earth, He humbled Himself in order to elevate others.

You cannot serve God and yourself. You cannot walk the King’s Highway in pride. Growth as a believer is self sacrifice UPWARD, love OUTWARD.

1 John 2:6 (ESV) whoever says he abides in Him {in Jesus} ought to walk in the same way in which He walked.

Our Lord Jesus “left us an example, so that we might follow in His steps” (1 Peter 2:21-23).

Proverbs 16:19 Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.

Those who “divide the spoil with the proud” will one day enter a terrible hell, either on this earth or in the Presence of God.

If your treasure is yourself and your things more than God and others, one day you will find yourself suffering eternal loneliness with this temporal trash. Jesus warned us:

Matthew 6:1-4 (ESV) Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 3 But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.

We are to seek “the honor that comes from God, not from men” (John 5:44).

Handle God’s Word With Respect

Proverbs 16:20 He that handleth A MATTER wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he.

Word Study: Though I love the King James Version, there are times when the translators for whatever reason missed the mark. The words translated A MATTER is one word in the Hebrew, dāḇār. The most common translation for the word in the King James is WORD (807 times), though it is also translated CHRONICLES (38 times), SAYING (25 times), or COMMANDMENT (20 times). When I read “He that handleth a MATTER wisely” I have no idea what God is asking me to do. But when I read it as “He that handles the WORD wisely shall find GOOD”, I know exactly what it is that God wants me to do.

God wants us to trust in Him, to trust in his Word. His Word is always faithful. The Bible is TRUTH!

I checked the translation against how other word to word translations defined the verse. I found:

NKJV He who heeds the Word wisely will find good, And whoever trusts in the Lord, happy is he.

NASB One who pays attention to the Word will find good, And blessed is one who trusts in the Lord.

ESV Whoever gives thought to the Word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.

“The Word” listed here is the Word of God, as the second half of the proverb is introduced with AND. What someone thinks or has seen on the basis of human experience is always suspect. Just ask any policeman who is investigating a crime. Various witnesses will tell you what they saw, and often their description is very varied – even as to the color of the perpetrator!

Illustration: I was reading a “Biography” article the other day entitled “For Decades, Titanic Survivors Said The Ship Split In Half. Nobody Believed Them.” There was a lady named Eva Hart who was 7 years old when she boarded the Titanic. When the ship – supposedly unsinkable – struck an iceberg on April 14, 1912, Eva survived because she was on one of the few life rafts. Eva and several other survivors said the ocean liner broke in half, “with the bow section sinking away as the stern bobbed in the water for a few minutes before finally descending underwater”. For 73 years the survivors claims were dismissed, until the wreckage was discovered in 1985. The article states:

“The wreckage of the Titanic would not be discovered until 1985, when Bob Ballad and Jean-Louis Michel found it using the side scan sonar during a joint French-American expedition. The ship was found in two widely separated pieces, definitively establishing that the ship had indeed split.”

For years people have suggested that we “evolved” from lower life forms that somehow mysteriously became self-existent. We have heard scientists talk about a “Big Bang”, along with other strange theories. None of these so called scientists were there, neither are the skeptics who mock the idea of God. Yet Someone was there at the beginning.

John 1:1-3 (ESV) IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD, and THE WORD WAS WITH GOD, and THE WORD WAS GOD. He was in the beginning withn God. All things were MADE THROUGH HIM, and WITHOUT HIM WAS NOT ANYTHING MADE THAT WAS MADE.

God was there at the beginning. Jesus Christ was there at the beginning. We have an Eyewitness Who can tell us exactly how all things were made, and Who can tell us how all things should be. We can trust God. We can trust His Word, both Living and Written. Let us strive to follow Him, to live confidently for Him.

As we approach Resurrection Sunday, the usual suspects will tell us that Jesus was a myth, that either He never existed, or if He existed, that He was killed and His body hidden. They will tell us that Jesus never rose from the grave. But there were eyewitnesses. The Apostles witnessed the resurrection, and wrote of it. Hundreds of people saw the resurrected Savior, and heard Him teach. When Chuck Colson was told “the Apostles made up the resurrection”, he replied:

“I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Every one was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren’t true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world — and they couldn’t keep a lie for three weeks. You’re telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible.”

The Word is true – and man often is not. Let us trust in Him, and live to learn more of His Word.